He felt like an addict needing a fix. In the past, just the sight of her had been enough, or perhaps a dance, a flirtatious remark, or a heated little exchange. But always there had been the knowledge in the back of his mind after those occurrences, that she was still his. That she still belonged to him.
Until the full seven days had passed with no sight of her and no small comments or tidbits of information from her normally too talkative father, Joe. And suddenly he needed all those things desperately.
Thankfully, Marty had shown no interest for any man other than him. So there had been no threat that she would be taken from him. But his past had always been the reason he couldn’t reach out for her, either. Why he couldn’t possess her.
As he stood, staring out the window of the room used to meet with his brother, Khalid watched as Shayne walked through the wide French doors leading from the bar to walk into the confines of the garden below.
His past was about to rise again with a vengeance. It was also the reason Shayne was in D.C. It was the reason Azir had sent Abram on his hasty trip from Saudi.
Azir was desperate to regain Khalid’s favor. Favor he had never possessed, and never would. The man who had bought, raped, and tormented Khalid’s mother was a monster to him. The only reason Khalid had agreed to go to Saudi just after he turned eighteen was to find a way to destroy Azir.
Azir hadn’t been destroyed, though. Abram and Khalid had been the ones to suffer.
Staring out into the flowering gardens below, it wasn’t the beauty of the perfect blooms he saw.
He saw his past.
He saw the blood.
Raking his fingers through his hair, he drew in a hard, frustrated breath before turning away and stalking back to the drink he had sat on the table next to the couch and tossed it back quickly. Grimacing at the burn as it traveled down his throat, Khalid wondered if he would ever erase the sins of the past from his soul.
His jaw clenched as memories and rage threatened to flood him. It had been ten years, and still he couldn’t get the sight of it, the horror of it, out of his head.
He could still hear Abram’s howls of rage as they echoed through their father’s desert palace. He could see the woman he and Abram had pledged themselves to, spread out upon her marriage bed, naked, her gaze staring in blank horror at the ceiling above the bed, blood covering her body and the satin sheets, and pooling between her thighs.
And now, here he was, so many years later, tempting that horror to strike once again.
Khalid knew he must be insane, because there wasn’t a chance in hell that he could endure the pain Abram had endured when he lost Lessa. Should he lose Marty to the vindictive cruelties of his half brothers, he would go on a killing rampage unlike any Ayid and Aman could imagine.
Even knowing it was more than he could endure, he couldn’t stay away from her. Not anymore. But more important, she had declared herself, and Marty wasn’t backing down in spite of what she had said a week ago. He knew Marty too well. Even if Khalid didn’t respond, his brothers would take notice of her eventually.
And with that knowledge came the realization that to have her, he would have to protect Marty as he had never been able to protect another. And there was one man, besides Abram, who he trusted to help him do that.
Moving from the meeting room, Khalid strode down the stairs to the main bar where he found Shayne sitting in solitude, as he normally did, a newspaper raised as he lounged comfortably in one of the recliners in the corner of the large room.
The CIA agent claimed, to the members who dared question his presence, that he was on vacation, though Khalid was well aware that the man had never had a vacation in his life. Not a true one. Shayne had been the first to warn Khalid of the rumblings heard in Saudi of the Mustafa’s brothers’ plans to strike against him and had helped set up today’s meeting with Abram. He had come to warn him. But he would stay to protect the woman he had become fond of over the years.
“Shayne.” Khalid took a seat on the sofa across from him.
The newspaper lowered slowly. The other man looked back at him, his expression curiously bland, though his light brown eyes danced with knowledge. “I will require a third.” Khalid kept his voice low but his intentions clear.
Shayne folded the paper before laying it carefully on the low table between them.
“Do you think it’s the best time for this?” Shayne tilted his head questioningly as his gaze darkened with a hint of disapproval.
“I believe it is.” Khalid nodded. “Ayid and Aman are planning to strike, as we always knew they would. Marty is not going to back down, and resisting her isn’t something I believe I can do for much longer.”
Explaining himself wasn’t something Khalid did well, but in this case, the explanation was required. How to protect her, how to shelter and keep her safe would have to be discussed, questioned, and planned in exacting detail. That would require more than just explanations, and he would have to face others besides Shayne. He would have to face her fathers.
Looking around the nearly deserted room, Shayne slid the recliner back into its upright position before leaning forward. “They don’t know about her yet. There’s a very good chance we can keep her out of this,” he began.
Khalid waved that suggestion away. “There’s no way to keep her out of it. She will draw their attention once they decide to make their move. The question remaining is how to protect her while we’re resolving the situation.”
Shayne nodded before his gaze narrowed and his expression became thoughtful, intent.
“We’ve always known this was a dangerous game we were playing where your half brothers are concerned. I had hoped we’d have the proof the Saudi government required by now.”
Khalid sighed wearily. “They’re smart. They wouldn’t have survived so long otherwise.”
“What about Abram?”
Khalid understood the question Shayne was asking, he merely preferred to ignore it.
“I do not require his permission,” Khalid stated firmly.
“The two of you share a past in this,” Shayne pointed out, his gaze narrowing at Khalid’s deliberate attempt to avoid the subject. “I admit, I expected you’d make him the offer instead.”
“Abram has other responsibilities, and what is in the past is long buried.”
Shayne slowly nodded. “As long as that’s where we stand. If you intend to introduce her to any other as a potential third, then I’ll decline if it’s all the same to you.”
Khalid was more amused at the other man’s attempts to control some part of this relationship with Marty than angry, though anger wasn’t far behind. It was rather a good thing that he had developed the patience he had over the years.
“I understand.” Khalid nodded soberly as he began to rise to his feet. “Forgive me for disturbing you.”
Shayne glared back at him. “Sit back down you arrogant bastard,” he snapped. “Hell, at least give me a chance at part of her heart.”
“I will give you the chance to secure yourself as our third, nothing more.” Khalid resumed his seat. “I have no desire to share more than I have stated. Her bed, as well as her safety.”
Khalid found himself feeling rather possessive where Marty’s emotions were concerned.
Shayne grimaced at the statement.
“Hell, I was hoping Marty would demand more along the lines of what her parents have.”
“And you are prepared for such a commitment?” Khalid arched his brow in disbelief. He wasn’t surprised by the rueful smile Shayne gave him in return.
“It would have been nice to play house for a while.” Shayne finally shrugged. “She’s a damned fine woman, and coming home to her wouldn’t be a hardship.”
The life Shayne lived was solitary one. He’d mentioned that to Khalid and Sebastian several times. Evidently, he thought Marty could provide more than the sexual intensity a third was normally seeking.
“She’s not a toy.” Khalid found himself repeating her father’s warning. “She’s my woman, and she will be treated as such.”
